Splash guards or mud flaps used on large and small trucks are generally made from different materials. Some are formed from reformulated blends of ground rubber. Others are formed from either high- or low density polyethylene and some are formed from other thermoplastics such as ethylene vinyl acetate. These may be filled or unfilled.
Purchasers of these splash guards may wish to have the splash guards decorated with some ornamental material, or covered with a reflective material. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to keep a decorative adhered to a thermoplastic surface. This is also a problem with other thermoplastic articles such as coolers, yard signs and the like.
One can form a decorative by melting portions of the surface or debossing the surface of the thermoplastic article to form an indented area which is marked with a colored foil. But this is only cost effective if one manufactures a very large number of splash guards with the same decorative. Screen printing can also be used, but this wears off. Further, this method cannot be used to apply a reflective material.
If someone wants to manufacture five or ten marked splash guards, such a method is cost prohibitive. Unfortunately, one cannot simply use an adhesive to adhere material to thermoplastics such as polyethylene and EVA. Due to their nature, they are not compatible with most adhesives. Polyethylene adhesives should adhere to a polyethylene splash guard. But a polyethylene decorative tends to smear when applied. It is also soft and non-scratch resistant. Therefore, until now simply adhering a decorative to the surface of the thermoplastic splash guard has not been effective for small quantities.